SAITAMA

Museum sets out to discover Media Explorers

Last year, the staff at the Visual Museum in the city of Kawaguchi’s industrial hub of Skip City set out to award a new class of explorers.

The definition of their so-called media explorer was someone who tried to expand the possibilities of visual expression. Two artists, Takashi Ohashi and Haruka Hino shared the prize and this weekend the organizers of the Media Explorer Challenge Award set out to make their next big discovery.

The accompanying exhibition, open to the public, will be on display from April 13 till May 26. Visitors will be treated to five visual works or installations by young artists that were chosen out of 123 submissions.

The pieces on display will be “Kiiroi Harappa,” an animated short by Youzou Ochiai; “transform,” a film by Narumi Sasaki; “Temporary Seminar Room,” an installation and film by Rikako Takahashi; “Kanashimi no tameno Test,” a 15-minute moving image by Remi Hashimoto; and “jewel,” a nearly 14-minute moving image by Masakazu Fukuta.

The winner will be announced on the first day of the exhibition by returning judges Shuzo Shiota, president and CEO of Polygon Pictures; Yukiko Shikata, a curator and critic; and artist Hiroharu Mori.

The Media Explorer Challenge Award 2013 Finalists Exhibition takes place at Skip City’s Visual Museum in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, from April 13 till May 26 from 9:30 a.m. till 5 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays. Admission costs ¥500 with discounts for elementary and junior high school students. For more information, call (048) 265-2500 or visit www.skipcity.jp.